Signs of Spring in the Yard

Spring has arrived in my yard.  I have a feeling though that we are going to go straight to the heat of summer before we know it.  My knock roses are in full bloom!  They are so fresh and pretty right now.  I lost one right in the middle of the bed last year.  So what to do with that empty spot?  I had a little pedestal with an angel on it but then a couple of weeks ago I bought this pretty little statue at a yard sale for $3!  Who cares if she is missing a little piece in her arm?  That just gives it character!

The rose bed in on the side of my house by the driveway.  So why don't we stroll though the gate into the back yard to see what's blooming?

The first bloom on the "Nearly Wild" roses that are planted at the gate.

The "Stella d'Oro" are blooming.  These are smaller day lilies that bloom all summer.  My regular lilies have not started blooming yet.

The mandevilla hanging baskets spent the winter in the greenhouse.  They fared well and are just now starting to bloom.

Down the sidewalk to the pond, Mr. Crawfish rules supreme against a back drop of cast iron plants.  The elephant ears are going crazy this spring.  I have lost count of how many I have actually already pulled up.  I'm not going to show you the pond just yet.  It hasn't been cleaned out since all the pollen stuff started coming off the trees and the pump has been acting a little crazy lately.

I have two of these baskets on the fence behind the pool.  The little green thingy made it though the winter but I recently added the white trailing flowers.  Once they fill out, it will be spectacular against the fence.  I REALLY want to hang one on my house but the house is white and every time it gets watered it's going to leave a brown trail underneath it to the floor.

My banana trees are really growing!  They are going to really fill out this space once summer gets here. You can see the totem pole that watches over the pool.   

Since we had a mild winter here, I didn't lose too many of my shrubs.  Most did die down but are already showing signs of rebirth.  Such an appropriate word for this time of year, don't you think?